Arriva London’s Route 253 converts to New Routemasters

Arriva London, the first bus company to introduce the New Routemaster for TfL on route 38 in February 2012, has been gearing up for the introduction of thirty-two more New Routemasters on its route 253, running from Hackney Central to Euston out of its Stamford Hill garage.

The new buses were initially delivered from Wrightbus in Northern Ireland to Arriva’s North London Edmonton garage, where they were checked and prepared for going into service.

A total of 266 buses are now in the fleet, with still more to come. They continue to prove very popular with staff and customers alike. Arriva London now operates the New Routemaster on six of its routes, the others being routes 38, 59, 73, 137 and 149.

Here are a few comments from some of our drivers.

“I like the bus very much, it’s very good to drive. It’s a big bus so you can fit in a lot of people. Tourists like it as it’s a symbol of London and they take a lot of photos.”

“I love them, they’re a joy to drive, they’re progressive, they’re the future, I just enjoy driving them and the passengers love them too.”

“The front is lovely, because it’s got this airy look to it, which as a driver makes it a lot easier as you can see all around. I’ve been driving the bus and it’s a very smooth bus.”

If you’d like to be part of the Arriva London driving team and have the chance to drive one of Arriva’s New Routemaster buses, then please click here and apply.

Every year, Arriva London’s staff show their massive generosity through their continued charitable giving. The company runs a Payroll Giving scheme, which encourages staff to easily give to any charity they choose through their payroll, for as little as one pound a week; this is also tax efficient for both the employee and the charities.

‘Christmas comes but once a year, but when it does it brings good cheer’ and that’s exactly what Arriva London’s iconic open-top red Routemaster helped to do last weekend at the Hamley’s Toy Parade in Regent Street.